The Royal College of Anaesthetists has praised the Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s Pre-Assessment Department for its improvement, good practice and quality care for patients with anaemia or diabetes who require surgery.

Patients with these conditions often suffer complications during surgery, for example risk of infections, or face having their operations cancelled on the day.

To reduce the chances of this happening, hospital clinicians set up a specialist pre-assessment clinic – the first of its kind in the UK – to ensure patients are fully prepared before their surgery. The clinic has proved a great success and has halved the average length of stay for diabetes patients following surgery.

Pre-Assessment Sister Sally Papworth said: “It is great to receive some national praise and it’s a real morale boost for the team. We play an important role in a patient’s journey and have worked hard to make patient care safer.”

Diabetic nurse Jade Thorne said: “This is a great example of two departments working closely together and communicating effectively in order to provide our patients with the very best treatment. The clinic has been running for four years now and we are delighted to receive this recognition.”

Consultant Endocrinologist and Clinical Director for Medicine, Tristan Richardson, added: “This novel change to working has been associated with better patient care. It is great for the teams to be recognised nationally and lovely to see ideas come to fruition. It’s a real success story.”